On October 1 we participated in “Corre Con Tu Perro,” an annual event organized by Fundación Corazón Animal. The Diego Rivera Access Highway was closed on the morning so that hundreds of dog lovers could run or just walk with their dogs without having to worry about vehicular traffic. As a co-sponsor of the event, Amigos had a table with educational materials situated near the beginning of the racecourse.
At the beginning of the month new messages appeared on the backs of two city buses. One, depicting a dog running with a person, states (in Spanish): “Our dogs need daily exercise, and so do we.” The other, featuring a cat and dog wearing Santa hats and looking rather unhappy, says (in Spanish): “We are not toys to be thrown away when you become tired of us.” The messages will remain on the buses until the end of December.
We held two sterilization campaigns in October, a regular campaign on the 8th at a home in Paso de Perules, where we sterilized 54 dogs and cats, and a mini campaign on the 22nd at the clinic of veterinarian Ricardo Montes de Oca in Ex-Hacienda de Santa Teresa, where we sterilized 19 animals.
At the campaign in Paso de Perules, our teacher Tony López talked with 12 children about caring for their pets, played games with them, and gave them crayons for coloring one of our coloring books.
On October 17 Tony López and Julia Salido joined Dr. Luis Alberto Fernández Ferro, the veterinarian in charge of the city’s Animal Control and Assistance Center, to give talks to four groups of primary students, ages 11-12, at the Juan de Diosdado Primary School about pets’ needs and families’ responsibility toward them. Altogether they spoke to 120 students. Afterward, in the classrooms where there was room, the children played a game called pelota caliente (hot potato), calling out questions and answers as they threw the ball from one person to another. Our volunteers left copies of stories with the students and materials for their teachers.
On October 25 Tony López and Julia Salido talked to children at the Montessori Preschool in Lomas del Padre about caring for their pets, played a giant board game with them, and presented a puppet play in our new puppet theater, which Julia had designed. Eighteen children participated in this educational event.
During October our education volunteers also gave two interviews of Channel 8’s morning program “Despierta Guanajuato” (Good morning, Guanajuato). On the 12th Tony López talked about what kinds of pets are appropriate for people with different needs and circumstances, and on the 26th Julia Salido discussed whether it’s better to buy or adopt a pet. Our view is that in almost every case, adoption is a much better choice—for the person and the pet.
The October online issue of Barks and Meows included two articles on the topics discussed in the Channel 8 interviews. We also published 12 items on our Facebook page, and nine on Instagram, thanks to board member Joslyn Lewis.
Our sincere thanks to all those who made those events happen: veterinarians Verónica Almaguer, Ricardo Montes de Oca, Arturo Rocha; our sterilization campaign coordinator, Julia Salido; campaign volunteers Mary Beth Canavan, Rosemarie Conde, Victoria Larrazolo, Tony López, Beth Lozano, Adhan Mata, Derek Rosas, Vicky Sandoval; our education coordinator, Tony López; Corre con Tu Perro volunteers, Karla Ahumada, Tony López, Julia Salido, Adhán Mata López; our board directors, especially Joslyn Lewis for her Facebook and Instagram posts; Sandra Price, translator, Sue Meyers, production specialist; and Jim Sullivan, our tech advisor.